Alice Returns: Return of The Jabberwocky
by Undecidedlymelted
Summary: Alice takes a second trip through the looking glass with help from the Red Queen. On the other side she learns about the return of the dreaded Jabberwocky. Her overactive imagination answers questions that ought to be left alone. MYSTERY** PLEASE R
1. All Twas Not So Slithy

"It was so."

"How could you tell! Did you buy it for me?"

"No, but I suppose..."

"Oh you suppose," Tweedledee stomped, obviously enraged. "It was perfectly new!" He

clammered around in a circle, throwing his arms in the air and muttering. Tweedledum watched

unbearingly. "Another battle won't settle this, you know," he called half-heartedly. But it fell on deaf

ears as Tweedledee stalked away. Standing slowly and rubbing the dirt from his trousers,

Tweedledum followed him. At that moment an awful squeal emmitted from a nearby hill. Two

JubJub birds fluttered awkwardly towards them exlaiming in high pitched voices, "The

Jabberwocky!" A few more animals rushed from the hill but said nothing, although they scuttled by

with frightened looks. Tweedledee and Tweedledum exchanged glances and then

plodded carefully towards the hill. Perched precariously ontop was a sundial, but no sign of any

Jabberwocky. They studied the surroundings and found that in any case, there were signs of

rather carnivorous toves. Nothing but natural selection. Possibly. Large holes filled with the

crunched skeletons of smaller mammals suggested as such.

"Let's not bother with it anymore," came Tweedledum in a forcefully calm tone.

"What if we should turn and end up as lunch?" reproached Tweedledee.

"Oh hush," snapped Tweedeldum. "Lunch has already been finished."

"We'll be on our way," He called out behind them. Just for safe measure.

As they turned a voice rang out,_  
"Beware the Jabberwocky my son!  
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!"_

"Ru..ru..Rubbish," cried out the frightened Tweedledee. "You won't...scare us"

The two trudged down the hill and entered Tulgey Wood carefully peaking this way and that to

avoid running into one of this aggitated badgers or something twices as fierce.

Behind them a shadowed figure, precariously hidden by the direction of the sun laced a long,

crooked arm around the bellies of Tweedledee and Tweedledum. With eyes of flame and

steadied on the ground, the monster sucked them hurriedly into the trees.


	2. Midnight Visit

"Oh my!"

The moon was still high in the evening sky which suggested that it was rather late. Or early

depending on your preference. Alice sat up straight in her bed and looked all around. "Thank

heavens it was only a dream." Her feet touched the cold hardwood floor and she searched blindly

for a pair of house slippers. Once on, she walked towards the table and turned on the reading

lamp. The draft of a letter lay half written with many cross outs on it. Alice picked it up and decided

against resuming an obviously disasterous mission. Tossing in the hearth, she sat down in a

chair. "Poor dears, if that should really have happened to them," she broke off in a sigh. "Such

wonderfully silly little men." She folded her hands in her lap and stared at the low buring fire for a

moment. A flicker of movement caught her eye and she thought it a trick of the light. A chess

piece was standing on the mantle and it seemed to be crossing its arms. Alice rubbed her eyes to

be sure it wasn't a trick of the light. Carefully she slid over and put both hands

on either side of the red chess piece, clutching the mantle. On tip toe, her nose barely made it

over the mantle piece and she asked polietly, "By chance would you want to speak with me?" The

tiny figure poked her nose and set both hands on its tiny wooden hips, "I should think so!" Alice

rubbed her nose and picked the piece up. The Red Queen demanded to be treated with dignity

and Alice set her on the floor at once. Moments later a life sized version of the wooden chess

piece stood in her bedroom, wagging a mahogany finger at dazed Alice. "The nerve of you,

Queen Alice!" She paced around the floor, "Do you know the severity of these circumstances?!"

Alice opened her mouth to speak but was quickly sushed. "The very idea! Returned from the

dead!' Alice broke her rant by speaking loudly, "I do beg your pardon but what exactly are you..."

Interrupted again the Red Queen shouted, "Do not beg, it isn't lady like." Alice apologized silently

and proceeded, "If you don't mind, what has returned?" The Queen looked appalled. She stood

flabbergasted for a moment before replying, "Why the Jabberwocky of course!" A knot formed in

Alice's stomach, "But that's nonsense, the Jabber-thing..."

"Jabberwocky, my dear," the Red Queen corrected her.

"Oh yes thank you," Alice said. "The Jabber_wocky _was supposed to have been defeated, was it

not?"

Alice recited:  
_"One, two! One, two! And through and through  
The vorpal blade went snicker-snak!  
He left it dead, and with its head  
He went galumphing back."_

The Queen clapped, "Oh wonderful! Your lessons must be going well!" Alice curtsied and replied,

"Why yes. Yes they are!" The Red Queen seemed to remember her urgency and snapped, "Oh

nevermind that! You must come at once!" Just then she tugged at Alice's arm so roughly, she

wondered if it had come off all together. "Go to where?" she said trying to stop herself from being

dragged into the hearth. "With me of course!" the Queen barked. Alice felt her feet leave

the floor and once more she was on the mantle. She protested and fought but in the end, The Red

Queen had dragged her through.


	3. Then and Again Realization

The Red Queen had vanished and Alice muttered something about manners. Her last visit

familiarized alice with the awkward way things were done on the other side but still she braced her

self for the unknown. A cat lay in the chair which Alice had occupied in reverse just moments

before, but only the tail could be seen. Hopefully, Alice pictured the mirror-verison of Dinah and

walked over to it. Upon further investigation she found it to be of the same size color and stature

of that of the Chesire Cat and while disappointed in it not being Dinah, she was glad to see it. "Oh

Chesire Cat, how do you do?" Her voice was full of excitement as she waited for its reply, only to

be disturbed as it rolled onto his side, facing her. "I do beg your pardon, but who are you?" came

the rude cat. "I am Alice, do you not remember me?" she said sadly. The Cat sat up and

examined Alice, "Of course." She brightened up. "You are Queen Alice, so please to make your

aquaintance," the cat bowed half-heartedly. "It's a honor, but I really must be going." The Cat

slunk to the floor and scampered off drunkenly towards the door. Alice called after it but it did not

turn around nor did it acknowledge her call. "Well, I should hope to never see that cat again." She

looked around and decided the best thing to do would be to venture out of the house. "Last time,"

she said softly, "I had to walk in the opposite of where I wanted to go." Her first steps where in the

wrong direction. Once she reached the yard, Alice came upon two parrots chattering frantically.

"Pardon me, but..." Alice began slowly. The birds flipped around, scattering feathers and creating

an awful racket. "Help!" cried the two continously and Alice had to sieze one by the neck to quiet

it. "Please!" she said harshly. "I wasn't trying to startle you, honestly." The parrots calmed down

little by little and soon were sane enough to realize who was speaking to them. "Queen Alice, you

gave us such a fright," the said softly. "We weren't aware you had returned." Alice put her hands

on her hips, "I am no Queen. I'm a little girl." The two birds shook their heads, "Oh, don't play coy

your majesty." She stamped her foot, "Queen's do not parade around in the nightgown I dare

admit." The parrots looked stunned, for you see her nightgown was replaced by a beautiful dress

of yellow and blue. "Yes, I suppose Queen's have rather extraordinary night gowns then," said the

smaller of the birds. She looked down and admired the extravagance of the dress and twirled

about. "Oh dear this is beautiful,"she said surprised. "Where ever did I get it?" Snickers and snyde

comments were made under hushed tones and she shot them a sharp look. Alice sought to

repremand them but as she started to speak the Red Queen whipped out of a nearby bush and

cried out, "Now is no time to be dally-dillying!" She grabbed Alice harshly by the arm and ranted,

"Standing around when there's work to be done." Alice lagged behing the lightning fast queen as

she sped through the woods towards the river. Once at the bank she stopped and Alice was left

catching her breath and wiping her eyes. Across the river lay a large town, one unlike Alice had

seen on her visits to the strange world. "I do believe it's the largest city I have seen since my visits

to Wonderland." She stopped a moment and thought loudly, "Well Wonderland wasn't through the

looking glass was it? It was down the rabbit hole. And rightly so there is no white rabbit." The

Queen was watching her intently but didn't bother to answer any of the posed questions. Alice

continued, "And in Wonderland, all ways were the Queen's ways. But that was the Queen of

Hearts. Of course red is the color on the heart card, but the Queen of Hearts had such an awful

temper."

She paced around, one hand on her hip, the other wagging a finger while in deep thought. "The

Red Queen couldn't possibly be her or else she wouldn't have helped me find 'my way' to the

Eighth Square for feasting and fun. And then again there are two Queens here" The Red Queen

kept slumping over, as if falling asleep but Alice payed no mind. She kept on, "But the Hatter was

present in Wonderland and is the messenger to go for the White King in this land. Also the March

Hare was the messenger to come for the same King. And there is no tea party." Leaning on the

rail of the bridge Alice continued, "In Wonderland they were lazy and mad, but here they are hard

to work and listen intently to directions." The Red Queen finally dozed off when Alice clapped her

hands together hard and exclaimed, "I've figure it out!" The Queen yawned, "What have you

figured out?" Alice jumped up and down, "This isn't Wonderland at all. And if its the opposite of

Wonderland and everything here is backwards it must be Dnalredonw!" The Queen stood up and

walked towards the wooden bridge that would lead them to the city, "What a dreadfully slow child

you are."


	4. A Time of Peace

The pace became much more relaxed as they neared the bridge. Alice looked towards the

congrigation of buildings and asked, "Where are we exactly?" The Red Queen seemed not to

have been paying attention,"Oh yes? Right, we are in Trouble." Alice seemed to misunderstand,

"Pardon? Correct me if I am wrong but did you say I am in.." The Queen cut her off, "I will correct

you. I said we are in Trouble. Trouble is the name for this town. And here we are. In Trouble."

Alice shook her head, "Quite ironic I should think, given the current situation. " The Red Queen

posed a question, "You would think, but is it ironic or is it coincidence?" The question gave Alice

something to brood over as they arrived at the bridge. Minutes seemed to pass slowly without

conversation and the length of the bridge seemed to only extend. Finally Alice arrived at two

conclusions. Stopping she placed both hands on her hips and said, "Firstly, I should like to say

that our arrival in Trouble is coincidentally ironic given the state of things and secondly..." But the

Queen had taken to walking the other way. Alice walked after her. Upon catching up to the Queen

she barked, "It's terribly rude to turn your heel and walk away when someone is clearly speaking

to you." Her highness retorted, "I can't clearly understand your meaning for it wasn't clear to me

that your thoughts were directed towards me." Alice stomped her foot and exclaimed, "Well

perhaps you should learn to listen."

"How does one 'learn to listen'?"

"Well, it comes with practice and patience."

"So if if one becomes practically patient then they can learn to listen?"

"I believe so, yes but..."

"Ah, but what if they patiently practice but become no better at it? Then is the practiced patience

wasted when it could have been used patiently for something more pratical?"

Alice held her head in one hand while trying to digest the Queen's words. Clearly satisfied, the

Queen set off once more. Finally the bridge seemed to come to an end and Alice could see the

first house of Trouble a little distance ahead. "If the town is called Trouble, does that mean

Trouble is ahead?" The Queen looked ashamed, "My dear, Trouble is always ahead but what you

will find there is anything but." Alice tilted her head, "And how is that possible?"

"In Trouble there is nothing but learned folk that have well rounded heads on their shoulders. It's

Fortune that you should watch out for."

"And why is that?"

"Because the people of Fortune believe that they have nothing to lose," came the Queen softly.

They entered the town on that last note and were greated warmly by all. Alice began to wonder

why they had come to Trouble at all if there wasn't any trouble worth correcting. "If you please,

why have we come here?" They stopped by a small well just outside a bakery and the Queen

motioned for Alice to sit next to her on the edge. "We are here to meet the drummers so that we

can be rid of our foe." Alice nodded and remembered that the drummers were used to get rid of

the Lion and the Unicorn. "But why the drummers? Do they not have but a single purpose?" The

Queen laughed, "No my dear, they are for many things. Like a declaration of Peace." Alice

thought to herself, 'Peace, why would you want piece if a monster such as the Jabberwocky were

slinking about?' The whole while the Queen had been talking loudly,"...again Peace is such an

awful word, and an even more rediculous way of dealing with subjects. Especially those that were

to have been beheaded already." Alice understood easier than she had anticipated, peace meant

war. Again she must get used to the backwards nature.

Passing through the central square was the Unicorn, hands deep in his pockets and his

spectacles low on his snout. Alice called out, "Mr. Unicorn!" and waved her hand franctically in the

air. The Queen smiled in shame and muttered, "Queens aren't supposed to be quite so

obnoxious." Alice looked over to her, "Well it certainly seems that you know all about obnoxious."

The Red Queen shot her a dirty look and then resumed scanning the town for any sight of the

drummers while the Unicorn advanced.

"Well hello there Queen Alice the creature," came the Unicorn.

"How do you do?" curtsied Alice.

"Not very well at all," replied the mythical horse. "You see, with you two taking away the

drummers, the Lion and I cannot continue our battle." Alice looked apologetically at him, "I am

very sorry Mr. Unicorn." She patted his arm, "But don't you think the safety of the inhabitants of

Dnalrednow are more important than your struggle for an unattainable crown?" The Unicorn

perked up, "You think the crown is unattainable?!" He clasped her shoulders so roughly it nearly

sent her tumbling down the well, "Oh Queen Alice! That is just the most horrible news I have

heard since tea!" Before asking why such horrible news made him so joyous, Alice realized her

mistake, "Oh yes, but Mr. Unicorn I think you have miss understood." He stopped dancing and

looked at Alice, "Beg your pardon?" The Red Queen, who had been, up until now, very rudely left

out of their conversation muttered, "It's rude to beg." Alice sighed, "I meant to sat that you will

most definetly get the crown from the White King." The Unicorn's jovial dance turned into a frenzy

of flailling arms and shouts. "The nerve!" he turned sharply and crossed his arms. But with his turn

he also threw his tail at Alice, who tottered on the edge of the well and losing her balance, fell in.

Both the Red Queen and the Unicorn watched her fall and she clearly heard the Red Queen say,

"Well you've really done it now Unicorn."


	5. A Reverse For All

Her fall was much like that of the trip down the rabbit hole. Only this time there weren't any floating

lamps to light her way. During her unbearably long time it took, Alice had time to recount the last

few hours or so. "The Jabberwocky was a poem in a book...not a real creature. But then again

who am I to know the difference between real and fiction?" She sighed and ranted on, "But if the

son was sent to kill the monster and the monster exsists in Dnalrednow then that means the son

went to ressurect the Jabberwocky and did not really kill him at all! But surely everyone in

Dnalrednow knows this." She rubbed her temples, "But then how would one explain the bringing

back of its head? In the event that it wasn't a reverse meaning and the son never returned with a

head at all but instead returned with the entire monster creating chaos..." Alice stopped talking

after realizing that indeed her thoughts could be a window to an undiscovered explaination. She

mulled it over and then said, "Well that's nonsense. Who would wish to set a monster lose on

Dnalrednow and create such chaos?" That was a question she couldn't answer, nor did she have

the time to as her feet skimmed the floor and soon she was stepping out of a hearth and onto a

marble floor. Looking around carefully introduced Alice to the conclusion that she was in some

sort of kitchen. It lay in shambles, if kitchens could lie that is. Pots and pans strewn carelessly

across the table and floor made it difficult to navigate towards the door. She had the strangest

feeling that she had been in this room before, and a second look around would jog her memory.

"Ah! The Duchess!" she said happy to have remembered.

A cradle lay overturned in the corner of the room, along with a few blankets and a rattle. She

walked over and took the rattle in her hand. Alice pocketed it and said, more to herself than

anyone, "I think Tweedledum should like to have this." Sitting on a chair was a grinder of pepper

and a childs bottle. "I assume those were the boys," Alice utterd. "But I did believe the boy turned

into a pig." A low growl from came from the door way and startled her so that she spun

immediately around. Sliding his way in slowly and with a most impressive grin, the Chesire Cat

wove his way between the debris that littered the floor. "Oh Chesire Cat, is it really you this time?"

Alice said, clasping her hands together. The cat laughed and vanished for a moment.

Reappearing on the mantle he replied, "For shame, child. What do you mean by 'this time'?" Alice

stayed still, wringing her dress (which had turned to plain white, and cotton), "You see, as I went

through the looking glass..." The cat stretched out on the mantle and sighed, "That is your first

mistake." She tilted her head to the side and asked, "My first? Well how many mistakes could I

have possibly made?" Expanding and contracting his nails, the cat replied, "Oh quite a few. But

your first was to have mistaken that cat for myself." Walking to the end of the mantle he jumped

onto a chair and curled up. "You see, I do not exsist in Dnalrednow. Only Melancholy Cat exsists

there." Alice took a seat on the floor and stated flatly, "I don't quite understand." The Cheshire Cat

waved a paw and said, "Then I shall explain. But only once."

"You see," he started off. "In Wonderland, we are who we appear to be. Simple yet confusing. If

you have a name in Wonderland, then in Wonderland that is who you must be. Like words may

only have one meaning here but in Dnalrednow, you may have a word mean whatever you chose.

Where we are now, I am the Chesire Cat. I have but one name and it shows desperately through

my actions. There I am the Melancholy Cat because I am the reverse of myself. Here I am smiles

and contradictions, there I am disturbed and straight forward." He stretched fully and then sat up

straight. "Here you are Alice, and there you are royalty. Everyone knows their reverse but may

never chancely meet. And should you should you change to meet your reverse then everything

becomes right side down." The cat seemed satisfied with his answer, but only part of it seemed

clear to Alice. "But, do you not mean upside down?" she asked figuring his terminology might be

confused. The cat shook his head, "No. Right side down. For you see, should one person become

their opposite, then their reverse becomes erased and then Dnalrednow becomes part of

Wonderland creating mass confusion." Alice asked again, "But why?" The cat seemed to be getting

annoyed but went on anyway, "Because we can't have two Alice's running about. It would be

chaos." With a wry smile he disappeared all together.

Alice stood up and brushed her dress off, "What in the world did he mean by chaos?" Shrugging,

she felt it was better to keep moving and at first she began to walk away from the door but

remembered that things were no longer in reverse. Turing she walked calmly out of the door, glad no

one had witnessed her momentary lapse of functionality.


	6. TeaSaster

Once outside, Alice breathed deep and looking around, she deduced that nothing had seriously

changed in Wonderland since her last visit. "Time seems to stand still here, " she said aloud. "It's

been almost three years and everything is exactly in its right." She laughed, "Then again, nothing

was how it should have been, and that's just the way they like it." Alice looked to her left and

traced the long winding road back to the White Rabbit's home, and then turned to her right.

"Which way to go?" she thought carefully. It seemed a great deal of time went by before Alice had

made up her mind, and even then she kept contradicting herself. "I should perhaps like to go and

see the Queen but the Rabbit...". She started off towards the Rabbit's house, when a commotion

from the opposite direction. Turning quickly Alice raced off. "Whatever could that have been?"

She thought as she stopped to catch her breath, and looked around. Up ahead there was an

overturned cart and what seemed to be a person kicking and punching at the side. Slightly curious

she moved closer and raised her voice, "Excuse me but, are you alright?" The person who was

furiously kicking at the cart stopped and turned slowly. It was the Mad Hatter. "Oh Mr. Hatter!"

cried Alice and she hugged him roughly, "Oh are you alright? Whatever happened here?" She

looked at the wreckage more closely. "Oh my dear, I was on my way to the Queen's Palace and

my cart snagged a rock, most unfortunate really," he continued. "And it overturned causing this

horrible mess." Strewn on the ground were bits of broken tea cups and large tea spills that were

forming their own brown lake in the grass beside the road. Alice attempted to pick up the pieces

but the Hatter shook his head, "Oh just leave them be." The two sat on the side of the road, and

stared at the awful mess until Alice broke the silence. "I suppose there isn't much we could do at

the moment, but turn back." The Mad Hatter stood up and smiled, "Don't lets be silly." He

straightened his hat and bounded on happily, "We shall proceed! Post haste!" Off he ran towards

the Palace with Alice behind him protesting as loudly as she could.


	7. Three Queens Too Many

They arrived. But once on the ground, the two noticed a sort of haze over the grounds. "What do

you suppose this is?" asked Alice, as she inched forward. The Mad Hatter pulled the brim down

over his eyes and hid behind her as they walked. "It is so quiet..." she pressed on. Not a single

Card was out on the lawn, and the croquet field was deserted. Even the Mock Turtle was silent.

Once inside the foyer, Alice called out, "Hello?" Which in turn made the Mad Hatter jump several

feet into the air, and landed perfectly in her arms. Alice placed him on the floor gently, "Oh come

now." A small clatter came from the hall and the two ventured down to see what was a fuss.

The noise was a small tea cup that had shattered but the pieces were being swept up by a small

mouse. Noticing Alice he hurried off, dumping the pieces back onto the floor. "What a peculiar

little mouse," said Alice as she knelt and cradeled a piece of the cup in her hand. Low murmurs

came form the room to her left and she peaked her head in through the door frame and saw the

back of a large mahogany chair. Voices were low and muffeled but the Queen's was distinct

above the rest.

"We can't be seen," came a woman's voice.

"But this is a time of crisis," came a second woman's voice.

"Who the devil cares!" boomed the Queen. "I need the both of you, so hush!"

"It's obvious that he never slew the beast as previously proposed." came the second woman.

"Well seriously, can you be that dull?" remarked the first woman. "I just hope that he doesn't

realize that he can travel to and fro."

"Yes, that would create a certain amount of disaster," said the Queen.

"But have we found his counter?" said the other women in unison.

The three spoke low again and then the Queen smashed her fists on the table, "I suppose we

shall call it quits for today."

Chairs scraped the wooden floor and a flash of red and then a flash of white zoomed by the door,

and the Queen walked towards the mantle piece. "Hopefully upon your return, something will have

surfaced." Pushing her head through the rest of the door Alice caught a glimpse of the owners of

the other two voices.

The Red Queen and the White Queen turned to look at Alice and then to the Queen of Hearts and

cried, "Oh dear..." Alice hadn't, at first, realized what exactly was going on. She was just rather

excited to see the Red Queen after her fall down the well, "Oh! How wonderful!" She ran over and

embraced a rather stiff queen. The tension in the room was palpable and Alice looked around

carefully. The Mad Hatter had scurried off to some place else and left her alone in the midst of

something terrible.

Red faced and seething, the Queen of Hearts slammed the door shut and dragged Alice over to

an arm chair and tossed her into the seat. "How much have you heard?" came her outraged

voice. Alice wrung her apron in both hands and replied, "I, I just arrived with the Mad Hatt..." The

Queen pounded her fists on the table, "He's arrived?!" Alice nodded. The three Queens moved

their heads together and then after a moment the Red and White Queens popped back through

the mirror above the mantle. "Where is he?" came the Queen of Hearts controlled rage. Alice twiddled her

fingers and stuttered uncontrollably, "Well, I…I…I hardly know." The Queen marched out of the room, but

not before slamming a few chairs off of the opposite wall and tearing a few cushions to pieces. Alice was

left standing next to her chair and staring through floating bits of feathers and a staring after a

bad-tempered Queen.


End file.
